Published on Apr 3, 2015This historic NASA film profiles the Apollo 4 mission (also known as AS-501). This was the first, unmanned test flight of the Saturn V launch vehicle, which was used by the U.S. Apollo program to send the first astronauts to the Moon. The space vehicle was assembled in the Vehicle Assembly Building, and was the first to be launched from Launch Complex 39 at the John F. Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island, Florida, facilities built specially for the Saturn V.

Apollo 4 was an "all-up" test, meaning all rocket stages and spacecraft were fully functional on the initial flight, a first for NASA. It was the first time the S-IC first stage and S-II second stage flew. It also demonstrated the S-IVB third stage's first in-flight restart. The mission used a Block I Command Service Module (CSM) modified to test several key Block II revisions, including its heat shield at simulated lunar-return velocity and angle.

Originally planned for late 1966, the flight was delayed to November 9, 1967, largely due to development problems of the S-II stage encountered by North American Aviation, the manufacturer of the stage. Delay was also caused, to a lesser extent, by a large number of wiring defects found by NASA in the Apollo spacecraft, also built by North American.

The mission was the first Apollo flight after the stand-down imposed after the Apollo 1 fire which killed the first Apollo crew. It was the first to use NASA's official Apollo numbering scheme established in April 1967, designated Apollo 4 because there had been three previous unmanned Apollo/Saturn flights in 1966, using the Saturn IB launch vehicle.

The mission lasted almost nine hours, splashing down in the Pacific Ocean, achieving all mission goals. NASA deemed the mission a complete success, because it proved the Saturn V worked, an important step towards achieving the Apollo program's objective of landing astronauts on the Moon and bringing them back safely, before the end of the decade.

ZachS09: I'm with you on Apollo 4's place in history. The press booths were shaken up because no one expected Saturn V to generate so much concussive energy. I think there was some sound suppression water. Walter Cronkite put his hand on the big CBS booth window to keep it from vibrating, which was exactly the wrong thing to do (it was supposed to vibrate). I remember several small fires breaking out the LUT. Interestingly, the Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory in Palisades NY picked up sound waves from the launch. When you replay the launch, note the wild cheer that goes up from launch control after tower clear.

Apollo 4 was the first unmanned test of the Saturn V launch vehicle for Project Apollo. It was an "all up" test, all three stages S-IC, S-II, and S-IVB, were tested in the same flight. The mission was also known as SA-501, Apollo-Saturn 501, or AS-501. The J-2 engine of the S-IVB 3rd stage was shut down after the stage entered orbit, then restarted in flight to simulate trans-lunar injection. A Block I Command and Service Module (CSM) was carried, and the Command Module was accelerated to high speed to simulate re-entry from a lunar mission, and recovered.

NASA film JSC-457

Apollo 4, (also known as Apollo-Saturn 501 and AS-501), was the first unmanned test flight of the Saturn V launch vehicle, which was used by the Apollo program to send the first men to the Moon. Apollo 4 flew the S-IC first stage and S-II second stage for the first time, and demonstrated the first in-flight restart of the S-IVB third stage. The launch, at 7am EST on November 9, 1967 from Launch Complex 39, was the first from the John F. Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island, Florida. The mission tested the complete Saturn V and Apollo Command/Service Module (CSM) stack in what is known in the aerospace industry as an "all-up test", meaning all stages were live and functional on the first flight. The mission was deemed a complete success by NASA.

This was the first flight of the Saturn V, and the first launch from Launch Complex 39, which was specifically built for the Saturn V. It would also be the first time that the S-IVB third stage would be restarted in Earth orbit, and the first time that the Apollo spacecraft would reenter the Earth's atmosphere at the speed of a lunar return trajectory...

The payload was the Apollo Command/Service Module (CSM), serial number 017. This was a Block I design meant for systems testing, not the Block II spacecraft designed for use with the Lunar Module (LM) on the actual Moon landings. However, several significant Block II modifications were made for certification, since no all-up Block II spacecraft would be flown before the first manned missions...

A dummy LM known as a Lunar Module Test Article, LTA-10R was carried as ballast to simulate the loadings of the LM on the launch vehicle....

Launch occurred at 1200 UTC on November 9. Eight seconds before liftoff, the five F-1 engines ignited, sending tremendous amounts of noise across Kennedy Space Center. To protect from a possible explosion, the launch pads at LC-39 were located more than three miles from the Vehicle Assembly Building; still, the sound pressure was much stronger than expected and buffeted the VAB, Launch Control Center and press buildings. NASA later built a sound suppression system that pumped thousands of gallons of water onto the flame trench under the pad.

The launch placed the S-IVB and CSM into a nearly circular 100-nautical-mile (190 km) orbit, a nominal parking orbit that would be used on the actual lunar missions. After two orbits, the S-IVB reignited for the first time, putting the spacecraft into an elliptical orbit with an apogee of 9,297 nautical miles (17,218 km) and a perigee that would deliberately take it 45.7 nautical miles (84.6 km) below the Earth's surface; this would ensure both a high-speed reentry of the Command Module, and atmospheric reentry and destruction of the S-IVB. The CSM then separated from the S-IVB and fired its Service Module engine to raise the apogee to 9,769 nautical miles (18,092 km) and a perigee of −40 nautical miles (−74 km). After passing apogee, the Service Module engine fired again for 281 seconds to increase re-entry speed to 36,545 feet per second (11,139 m/s), at an altitude of 400,000 feet (120 km) and a flight path angle of -6.93 degrees, simulating a return from the Moon.

The CM landed approximately 8.6 nautical miles (16 km) from the target landing site northwest of Midway Island in the North Pacific Ocean. Its descent was visible from the deck of the USS Bennington, the prime recovery ship.

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Some music had to be deleted from this video due to a bogus copyright claim, but the narration is all intact.Reupload of a previously uploaded film, in one piece instead of multiple parts, and with improved video & sound.

Public domain film from the US National Archives, slightly cropped to remove uneven edges, with the aspect ratio corrected, and one-pass brightness-contrast-color correction & mild video noise reduction applied.The soundtrack was also processed with volume normalization, noise reduction, clipping reduction, and/or equalization (the resulting sound, though not perfect, is far less noisy than the original).

Preparation at Kennedy Space Center of Saturn V SA-501 for the Apollo 4 mission, the first Saturn V launch, on November 9, 1967. Silent.

Wikipedia:Apollo 4, (also known as Apollo-Saturn 501 and AS-501), was the first unmanned test flight of the Saturn V launch vehicle, which was used by the Apollo program to send the first men to the Moon. Apollo 4 flew the S-IC first stage and S-II second stage for the first time, and demonstrated the first in-flight restart of the S-IVB third stage. The launch, at 7am EST on November 9, 1967 from Launch Complex 39, was the first from the John F. Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island, Florida. The mission tested the complete Saturn V and Apollo Command/Service Module (CSM) stack in what is known in the aerospace industry as an "all-up test", meaning all stages were live and functional on the first flight. The mission used a Block I CSM modified to test several important Block II revisions, including its heat shield at simulated lunar-return speeds of approximately 36,500 feet per second (11,100 m/s). The mission was deemed a complete success by NASA, and significantly advanced Apollo toward its goal of landing men on the Moon by the end of the 1960s.

This was the first flight of the Saturn V, the largest launch vehicle ever to fly successfully. It was also the first launch from Launch Complex 39, which was specifically built for the Saturn V. As well as being the first launch of the S-IC first stage and S-II second stage, it would also be the first time that the S-IVB third stage would be restarted in Earth orbit, and the first time that the Apollo spacecraft would reenter the Earth's atmosphere at the speed of a lunar return trajectory. Because of all these firsts, there were 4,098 measuring instruments on board the rocket and spacecraft...

The payload was the Apollo Command/Service Module (CSM), serial number 017. This was a Block I design meant for systems testing, not the Block II spacecraft designed for use with the Lunar Module (LM) on the actual Moon landings. However, several significant Block II modifications were made for certification, since no all-up Block II spacecraft would be flown before the first manned missions...

A dummy LM known as a Lunar Module Test Article, LTA-10R was carried as ballast to simulate the loadings of the LM on the launch vehicle....

Launch occurred at 1200 UTC on November 9. Eight seconds before liftoff, the five F-1 engines ignited, sending tremendous amounts of noise across Kennedy Space Center. To protect from a possible explosion, the launch pads at LC-39 were located more than three miles from the Vehicle Assembly Building; still, the sound pressure was much stronger than expected and buffeted the VAB, Launch Control Center and press buildings. Ceiling tiles fell around news reporter Walter Cronkite, covering the launch for CBS News. NASA later built a sound suppression system that pumped thousands of gallons of water onto the flame trench under the pad.

The launch placed the S-IVB and CSM into a nearly circular 100-nautical-mile (190 km) orbit, a nominal parking orbit that would be used on the actual lunar missions. After two orbits, the S-IVB reignited for the first time, putting the spacecraft into an elliptical orbit with an apogee of 9,297 nautical miles (17,218 km) and a perigee that would deliberately take it 45.7 nautical miles (84.6 km) below the Earth's surface; this would ensure both a high-speed reentry of the Command Module, and atmospheric reentry and destruction of the S-IVB. The CSM then separated from the S-IVB and fired its Service Module engine to raise the apogee to 9,769 nautical miles (18,092 km) and a perigee of −40 nautical miles (−74 km). After passing apogee, the Service Module engine fired again for 281 seconds to increase re-entry speed to 36,545 feet per second (11,139 m/s), at an altitude of 400,000 feet (120 km) and a flight path angle of -6.93 degrees, simulating a return from the Moon.

The CM landed approximately 8.6 nautical miles (16 km) from the target landing site northwest of Midway Island in the North Pacific Ocean. Its descent was visible from the deck of the USS Bennington, the prime recovery ship. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_4

Preparation at Kennedy Space Center of Saturn V SA-501 for the Apollo 4 mission, the first Saturn V launch, on November 9, 1967. Silent.

Wikipedia:Apollo 4, (also known as Apollo-Saturn 501 and AS-501), was the first unmanned test flight of the Saturn V launch vehicle, which was used by the Apollo program to send the first men to the Moon. Apollo 4 flew the S-IC first stage and S-II second stage for the first time, and demonstrated the first in-flight restart of the S-IVB third stage. The launch, at 7am EST on November 9, 1967 from Launch Complex 39, was the first from the John F. Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island, Florida. The mission tested the complete Saturn V and Apollo Command/Service Module (CSM) stack in what is known in the aerospace industry as an "all-up test", meaning all stages were live and functional on the first flight. The mission used a Block I CSM modified to test several important Block II revisions, including its heat shield at simulated lunar-return speeds of approximately 36,500 feet per second (11,100 m/s). The mission was deemed a complete success by NASA, and significantly advanced Apollo toward its goal of landing men on the Moon by the end of the 1960s.

This was the first flight of the Saturn V, the largest launch vehicle ever to fly successfully. It was also the first launch from Launch Complex 39, which was specifically built for the Saturn V. As well as being the first launch of the S-IC first stage and S-II second stage, it would also be the first time that the S-IVB third stage would be restarted in Earth orbit, and the first time that the Apollo spacecraft would reenter the Earth's atmosphere at the speed of a lunar return trajectory. Because of all these firsts, there were 4,098 measuring instruments on board the rocket and spacecraft...

The payload was the Apollo Command/Service Module (CSM), serial number 017. This was a Block I design meant for systems testing, not the Block II spacecraft designed for use with the Lunar Module (LM) on the actual Moon landings. However, several significant Block II modifications were made for certification, since no all-up Block II spacecraft would be flown before the first manned missions...

A dummy LM known as a Lunar Module Test Article, LTA-10R was carried as ballast to simulate the loadings of the LM on the launch vehicle....

Launch occurred at 1200 UTC on November 9. Eight seconds before liftoff, the five F-1 engines ignited, sending tremendous amounts of noise across Kennedy Space Center. To protect from a possible explosion, the launch pads at LC-39 were located more than three miles from the Vehicle Assembly Building; still, the sound pressure was much stronger than expected and buffeted the VAB, Launch Control Center and press buildings. Ceiling tiles fell around news reporter Walter Cronkite, covering the launch for CBS News. NASA later built a sound suppression system that pumped thousands of gallons of water onto the flame trench under the pad.

The launch placed the S-IVB and CSM into a nearly circular 100-nautical-mile (190 km) orbit, a nominal parking orbit that would be used on the actual lunar missions. After two orbits, the S-IVB reignited for the first time, putting the spacecraft into an elliptical orbit with an apogee of 9,297 nautical miles (17,218 km) and a perigee that would deliberately take it 45.7 nautical miles (84.6 km) below the Earth's surface; this would ensure both a high-speed reentry of the Command Module, and atmospheric reentry and destruction of the S-IVB. The CSM then separated from the S-IVB and fired its Service Module engine to raise the apogee to 9,769 nautical miles (18,092 km) and a perigee of −40 nautical miles (−74 km). After passing apogee, the Service Module engine fired again for 281 seconds to increase re-entry speed to 36,545 feet per second (11,139 m/s), at an altitude of 400,000 feet (120 km) and a flight path angle of -6.93 degrees, simulating a return from the Moon.

The CM landed approximately 8.6 nautical miles (16 km) from the target landing site northwest of Midway Island in the North Pacific Ocean. Its descent was visible from the deck of the USS Bennington, the prime recovery ship.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_4

Launch of Apollo 4 first Saturn V as seen LIVE on CBS w/ Walter Cronkite

Matthew Travis

Uploaded on Nov 10, 2010The first launch of the Saturn V rocket from Kennedy Space Center. This is footage from CBS News with Walter Cronkite. This is the famous video of him exclaiming about the roar and "the ceiling is fall down".

Launch of Apollo 4 first Saturn V as seen LIVE on CBS w/ Walter Cronkite

Matthew Travis

Uploaded on Nov 10, 2010The first launch of the Saturn V rocket from Kennedy Space Center. This is footage from CBS News with Walter Cronkite. This is the famous video of him exclaiming about the roar and "the ceiling is fall down".

Launch of Apollo 4 first Saturn V as seen LIVE on CBS w/ Walter Cronkite

Matthew Travis

Uploaded on Nov 10, 2010The first launch of the Saturn V rocket from Kennedy Space Center. This is footage from CBS News with Walter Cronkite. This is the famous video of him exclaiming about the roar and "the ceiling is fall down".

Are you positive this is the CBS News footage? It looks more like the NASA feed as seen in Spacecraft Films.

Wernher von Braun is featured in this pre-flight film about Apollo 4, the first unmanned test of the Saturn V launch vehicle for Project Apollo. It was an "all up" test, all three stages S-IC, S-II, and S-IVB were tested in the same flight. The mission was also known as SA-501, Apollo-Saturn 501, or AS-501. The J-2 engine of the S-IVB 3rd stage was shut down after the stage entered orbit, then restarted in flight to simulate trans-lunar injection. A Block I Command and Service Module (CSM) was carried, and the Command Module was accelerated to high speed to simulate re-entry from a lunar mission and recovered.

Apollo 4, (also known as Apollo-Saturn 501 and AS-501), was the first unmanned test flight of the Saturn V launch vehicle, which was used by the Apollo program to send the first men to the Moon. Apollo 4 flew the S-IC first stage and S-II second stage for the first time and demonstrated the first in-flight restart of the S-IVB third stage. The launch, at 7 am EST on November 9, 1967, from Launch Complex 39, was the first from the John F. Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island, Florida. The mission tested the complete Saturn V and Apollo Command/Service Module (CSM) stack in what is known in the aerospace industry as an "all-up test", meaning all stages were live and functional on the first flight. The mission was deemed a complete success by NASA.

This was the first flight of the Saturn V, and the first launch from Launch Complex 39, which was specifically built for the Saturn V. It would also be the first time that the S-IVB third stage would be restarted in Earth orbit and the first time that the Apollo spacecraft would re-enter the Earth's atmosphere at the speed of a lunar return trajectory.

The payload was the Apollo Command/Service Module (CSM), serial number 017. This was a Block I design meant for systems testing, not the Block II spacecraft designed for use with the Lunar Module (LM) on the actual Moon landings. However, several significant Block II modifications were made for certification, since no all-up Block II spacecraft would be flown before the first manned missions.

A dummy LM known as a Lunar Module Test Article, LTA-10R was carried as ballast to simulate the loadings of the LM on the launch vehicle.

Launch occurred at 1200 UTC on November 9.

The launch placed the S-IVB and CSM into a nearly circular 100-nautical-mile (190 km) orbit, a nominal parking orbit that would be used on the actual lunar missions. After two orbits, the S-IVB reignited for the first time, putting the spacecraft into an elliptical orbit with an apogee of 9,297 nautical miles (17,218 km) and a perigee that would deliberately take it 45.7 nautical miles (84.6 km) below the Earth's surface; this would ensure both a high-speed re-entry of the Command Module, and atmospheric reentry and destruction of the S-IVB. The CSM then separated from the S-IVB and fired its Service Module engine to raise the apogee to 9,769 nautical miles (18,092 km) and a perigee of −40 nautical miles (−74 km). After passing apogee, the Service Module engine fired again for 281 seconds to increase re-entry speed to 36,545 feet per second (11,139 m/s), at an altitude of 400,000 feet (120 km) and a flight path angle of -6.93 degrees, simulating a return from the Moon.

The CM landed approximately 8.6 nautical miles (16 km) from the target landing site northwest of Midway Island in the North Pacific Ocean. Its descent was visible from the deck of the USS Bennington, the prime recovery ship.

-----------------------------------------Originally a public domain film from the US National Archives slightly cropped to remove uneven edges, with the aspect ratio corrected, and one-pass brightness-contrast-color correction & mild video noise reduction applied.The soundtrack was also processed with volume normalization, noise reduction, clipping reduction, and/or equalization (the resulting sound, though not perfect, is far less noisy than the original).

They had a similar problem on STS-1 with high noise and vibration during launch, so it appears that NASA somehow forgot the lessons from Apollo 4 regarding noise suppression.

This was a huge gamble NASA was taking, because nobody had ever tried flying a complete launch vehicle on the maiden flight (you added components/upper stages as you went along). That it all worked perfectly too amazed everyone, especially the Soviets, who could not believe such a thing was possible.

And of course the fear of the enormous vehicle falling victim to a pad explosion was very real. Those first few seconds of launch were tense.

This was a huge gamble NASA was taking, because nobody had ever tried flying a complete launch vehicle on the maiden flight (you added components/upper stages as you went along). That it all worked perfectly too amazed everyone, especially the Soviets, who could not believe such a thing was possible.

I don't know if Minuteman counts since it was never the basis of a SLV. I thought they always flew Polaris with a live second stage but upon checking, the first few tests had a dummy one. It's a little different with solid rockets since you can't ground test them before launch anyway.

I actually couldn't remember the specific issues with STS-1's launch, just that they did have higher noise and vibration levels than originally anticipated. Apparently shock waves from the SRB exhaust went up into the orbiter's tail section and they had to improve the water sound suppressant system on LC-39A.

INFO: Launch preparationThe vehicle's on-pad, pre-launch tests and preparation practice started in September and encountered several problems with propellant loading and various equipment failures. These pushed the launch into November but provided valuable lessons learned on the new vehicle.[16] By this time, North American had been purchased by Rockwell Standard Corporation, so launch support was the first provided under the new name, North American Rockwell. On November 6, the 56½ hour countdown sequence began with propellant loading. In total there were 89 trailer-truck loads of LOX (liquid oxygen), 28 trailer loads of LH2 (liquid hydrogen), and 27 rail cars of RP-1 (refined kerosene). This time the problems encountered were few and minor.[17]

FlightLaunch occurred on November 9 at 7:00 am EST (12:00 pm UTC). Eight seconds before liftoff, the five F-1 engines ignited, sending tremendous amounts of noise across Kennedy Space Center. To protect from a possible explosion (see below), the launch pads at LC-39 were located more than three miles from the Vertical Assembly Building; still, the sound pressure was much stronger than expected and buffeted the VAB, Launch Control Center and press buildings. Ceiling tiles fell around news reporter Walter Cronkite, covering the launch for CBS News. Cronkite and producer Jeff Gralnick put their hands on the observation window in an effort to stop its powerful vibrations.[18] Cronkite later admitted he was "overwhelmed" by the power of the rocket and the emotion of the moment. His on-air description was delivered without his usual poise and reserve as he yelled above the launch noise into his microphone.

...our building's shaking here. Our building's shaking! Oh it's terrific, the building's shaking! This big blast window is shaking! We're holding it with our hands! Look at that rocket go into the clouds at 3000 feet!...you can see it...you can see it...oh the roar is terrific!.

— Walter Cronkite, Broadcast of Apollo 4 launchMuch like with the Saturn I's maiden flight six years earlier, the fear of a low altitude launch failure, and especially a pad explosion, was high. Several NASA studies had been conducted to assess this scenario by studying previous such accidents (notably the March 1965 Atlas-Centaur disaster), but in all such cases, they involved launch vehicles less than half the size and fuel load of the Saturn V. Such an event would be a catastrophe beyond all proportions (the Soviet N-1 disaster of 1969 however provides a glimpse of what it might have looked like). Fortunately for all concerned, the largest rocket ever built lifted from LC-39A and performed perfectly through all stages of the flight.

The launch placed the S-IVB and CSM into a nearly circular 100-nautical-mile (190 km) orbit, a nominal parking orbit that would be used on the actual lunar missions. After two orbits, the S-IVB's very first in-space re-ignition put the spacecraft into an elliptical orbit with an apogee of 9,297 nautical miles (17,218 km) and a perigee deliberately aimed 45.7 nautical miles (84.6 km) below the Earth's surface; this would ensure both a high-speed atmospheric reentry of the Command Module, and destruction after reentry of the S-IVB. Shortly after this burn, the CSM separated from the S-IVB and fired its Service Module engine to adjust the apogee to 9,769 nautical miles (18,092 km) and a perigee of −40 nautical miles (−74 km). After passing apogee, the Service Module engine fired again for 281 seconds to change the orbit to a hyperbolic trajectory, increasing re-entry speed to 36,545 feet per second (11,139 m/s), at an altitude of 400,000 feet (120 km) and a flight path angle of -6.93 degrees, simulating a return from the Moon.

The CM landed approximately 8.6 nautical miles (16 km) from the target landing site northwest of Midway Island in the North Pacific Ocean. Its descent was visible from the deck of the USS Bennington, the prime recovery ship.

yet another version of the launch, this one a Hybrid of various sources.

Apollo 4 Launch With CBS Audio

Terminal Countdown VideosPublished on Aug 15, 2018

Using video and audio uploaded by YouTuber LaunerModule5, I was able to put together what the Apollo 4 launch broadcast looked like. No, it's not accurate. Not at all. But I feel its a good representation of what was broadcast.

The first moments of the launch are from the actual Apollo 4 launch feed. The long range camera shot and the rest of the launch animation are courtesy of CBS News Apollo 11 Coverage. I did my best to sync the video to the audio, its not perfect and I did have to make a few alterations.